Arch for fire-boxes of locomotives, &amp;c.



J. LOFTUS.

ARCH FOR FIRE- BOXES OI I .0GOMOTIVES, 6m. APPLICATION FILED MAY 10,1909.

942,575. Patented Dec.7,1909.

2 sums-$111521: 1.

J. LOFTUS. ARCH FDR FIRE-BOXES 0F LOCOMOTIVES, 6w

' APPLICATION FILED HAY 10, 1909.

numnm 9m 1H H 4 s mm H 62 U n e Llu a P 5 7 5 g CHM ' the same tocontact and become deranged UNITED STATES PATENT onnicn;

JOHN Lorene, or ALB NY, NEW roux:

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ,JOI-IN Lorrus, a citizen of the United States,residing at Albany, 111 the county of Albany and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Arches for Fire-Boxes ofLocomotives, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in-the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of thisspecification.

This invention relates tonew and useful improvements in arches for boxesof locomotive eiigines, &c., and-"comprises means whereby the draft fromthe fire box leading to t-he'fiues of a boiler may be uniformlydistributed through openings between the bricks of the"arch, therebyeffecting an appreciable saving of fuel and also preventing the lodgmentof cinders and particles of coal in the fines of the boiler and alsoobviating the expanding of the flues incident to the excessive heatwhich passes up through the usual opening between-the first brick andthe-flue sheet, in engine furnaces as commonly constructed.

Heretofore it'has been the practice in constructing engine furnaces tomake the arch to the fire box solid with an opening ad- 'jacent to theflue sheet for preventing the lodgment of cinders upon the top of thearch adjacent to the flue sheet, By this construction a strong draft orcurrent or other gases for combustion, including flame 'and cinders,lncident to the exhaust passmg into the smokestack, is created andwhich, when the fire is'clean and in good condition, causes an intenseheat to pass through the opening in the arch adjacent to the flue sheetand cause an undue expansion of the lower flues and, when dirty coal forfuel is burned, ashes and cinders will accumulate on the front gratesand, as the fire becomes foul, the heatipassing up through the open ingwill'be greatly-reduced in temperature, thus acting upon the lower finesand causing and leaky. By dispensing with this opening, as I propose inthe present invention, and placing the first line of bucks at the innerend of the arch tight against the flue sheet and forming. openings,preferably of Specification of Letters iatent,

ARCH roe FIRE-BOXES or LocoMorIvEs, &c.

face of the fire.

Another advantage of the present invention consists in preventing thelodgment of sulfur and iron upon the fines, due to the excessive heat asit comes in contact with the flue sheet. By my improved arch and themanner of distributing the heat, I have found from experiment that themelted sulfurand iron instead of being deposited in the flues andcausing the same to be clogged will be deposited upon the upper surfacesof the bricks of the arch and thus tending 'to cement the same securelytogether. I

My invention comprises other and important features which will behereinafter fully described and then specifically defined in theappended claims.

1 illustrate my invention in the accompanying drawings, inwhich's-Figure 1. is a vertical longitudinal section .through a fire box andarch made in accordtion. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing a modi-' fiedform of fire brick which may be utilized in the construction of thearch,and Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view showing a slightly .modifiedmanner of constructing the brick and in which the notched flanges do notrest upon the water bars.

Reference now being bad to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates-the flue sheet of a boiler and B the fines leading throughthe same. Positioned, preferably at inclinations, within the fire box Bare the hollow arch-supporting water bars C-which communicate betweenthe boiler D and the water front E. Supported upon said water bars is aseries of fire brick H, which brie IS are formedin rows spaced apart,leaving openingsK intermediate the same and preferably the width of theopemngs vary, gradua'tingv in size from the innermost oicnmg toward theupper or rear row and or the Patented Dec. 7, 1909. Application filedMay 10, 1909. Serial No. 494,991. I e

By my im- 7 arch is preferably re purpose' of more evenly {makinguniform the l Each of said brickf "through the fines.

. 4 my p i under surface,as l a heupper wall of each .recess 1s} either.our E'as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, "or'inclined,'asf illustratedn the modified for1n,'and said curved or lnclined surface is preferablyso formed as to deflect cinders or particles of-coal which may come incontact therewith rearward, and the inner edge of which brick is :a-lsobeveled slightly for the purpose" of causing any particles of coal orcinders comby-the strong draft-to :be'deflected back upon .of'making thedraft uniform.

ing in contact therewith and which are raised the surface of the fire.Each ofsaid brick is provided witha plurality of flange-s, designated byletter R, each of which is notched as at R and in which an angled edgeof. the adjacent brickjis, adapted to bear and -cer-. tain of saidflanges are adapted to rest upon the hollow water bars, as shown.

In Fig. 4,- I have shown a slight modificatldn of the constructionof'thebrick in which they are made of general rectangular-out.- l-ined shapeand wi'thoutrecesses and each of said brick, as'illus trated in Fig. 4e,designated by letter 131s provided with notched flanges-T uponits underface, the edges of said-flanges being inclined and adapted to rest uponthe hollow water bar and, each jflange adapted to receive theangled-'edg'e-of.

an adjacent brick,- thus leaving a suflicient paceintermediate the brickfor the purpose is Fig. 5 L have shown a slight modificationof myinvention in which the'notchesi'n ft'he" flanges of the fire brickengage an edge strongest and'gradually increasing in di- "mension towardthe outer and upper end of the arch where the open ngs arelarger and ofan adjacent brick and give material suportone'to another in the event feitherone tense heat to come in contact with the flue's,

eausing; expansion of the same. By the pro vision of the series ofopenings between the rows of fire brick in my improved arch,'the 55*strong draft causedby the suction incident to the exhaust in the smokestack will be made uniform by causing the draft to be separated Lthroughthe various openings, the innermost of the series of openings beingnarrowest where the draft hasa tendency to be' the where the-draft is Hhter. Any particles of coal or'cinders whic may be ra sed by thedistributing and What I claim to be new is: I v

1.- In: comblnation with a fire box an boiler fluesofa locomotive, anarch made Strong urrent or draftxandcome rink" contact withfthebeveledyedges-of thebrick Wlll bedefie'cted back uponfthe surfac at thefire and any 'cinders oreparticlesiof coal which come in contact withthe vaultedj curved or inclined facesflof the be deflectedrearward'toward the up" r edge of the arch" and, owing .to "the forsewithwhich said, cinders or particles .be deflecte'd, they will pass overthe upper' end' of the fire, the current being thus reduced ah lowingthe cinders or particles of coal to be thus deposited and reburned. Thisis an essential advantage obtained from my appa':

V 'the arch and fall back upon the surface of ratus over the "ordinaryconstruction in.

which, when there is a solid arch, the draft" is so strong over the freeedge of thearch" that large cinders and small particles of coal willberaised by the draft over'the arch and into the flues where they arelikely to be forinly distributing the draft andheat, the

objection frequently-met within boiler furnaces as now constructed, inwhich the in tense heat will cause sulfur and'iron to melt andaccumulate upon the flues. incident to the-intense heat, will be avoidedand choking of'theflues by cinders and particles of coal will be largelyobviated.

With the construction shown and set forth forming the substance of myinvention, I have found-that the sulfur and melted iron will bedeposited to a considerable depth llodgedand thus choke theflues andimpair the efficiency of the engine. 4 By thus uni-Q.

hpon the upper surfaces of the fire brick and over; the jointsintermediate the same, thus serving as means to securely cement thebrick together' and thus greatly increasing the service of the arch.

up of rows of brick spaced apart and-positioned w-itln-n the fire boxand having their opposite faces inclined with resp'ectto the horizon andaway from said flues, lan es projecting from the under "faces of the-brck and having their lower edges inclined and in .alinement-with oneanother and against which. flanges the ad acent rows of brick areadapted to,bear.-'

2.; In combination with a fire box and boilerflues of a locomotive, anarch made up of rows of brick spaced. apart and posi tioned within thefire box and having their oppositejfaces inclined with respect to thehorizon and away from said flues, flan es' projecting from the underfaces of the brick and having their lower edges inclined and in.alinement with one another and agalnst which flanges the adjacent rowsof brlck are adapted to'bear, the upright edge of each flange having anotch adapted to re- 'ceive an angled portion of a brick" in'adjacentrowlwith spaces intervening between the rows.

3. In combination with a fire box and boiler finesof a locomotive, anarch made up of rows of brick spaced apart and positioned within thefire box and having their opposite faces inclined with respect to thehorizon and away from said flucs, the under surface of each brick beingconcavcd, each brick having an integral flange projecting from itsconcaved face, the under edges of the fianges being in alinement anddisposed at inclinations.

4. In combination with a fire box and boiler fines of a locomotive, anarch made up of rows of brick positioned within the fire box and havingtheir opposite faces inclined withjrespect to the horizon and away fromsaid fines, said rows being spaced apart with increasing distances fromthe lower to the upper row and provided with flanges upon their upperfaces, the lower marginal edges of which flanges are in i alinement andat inclinations, the forward edge of each row being in alinenient withthe rearmost portion of each adjacent row of brick.

5. In combination with a firebox and boiler fines of a locomotive, anarch made up of rows of brick positioned within the fire box and havingtheir opposite faces inclined with respect to the horizon and away fromsaid fiues, said rows being spaced apart with increasing distances fromthe lower to the upper row and provided with flanges upon their upperfaces, the lower marginal edges of which flanges are in alinement and atinclinations, the forward edge of each flange being notched and the rearedge of each row having an angled portion engaging said notches.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN LOFTUS.

Witnesses CHARLES H. HOPKINS,

JOHN W. SNYDER.

